Closure construction for container with lid

ABSTRACT

A closure construction is provided for a container having a neck portion with a top rim, an annular shoulder spaced from said top rim, projections spaced outwardly from said neck portion defining male threads located between said top rim and said shoulder, and a closure lid for the container has a closed top wall, an annular side wall with a plurality of generally vertically extending, circumferentially spaced, inwardly projecting corrugations, said corrugations having an interior surface defining respective portions of a female thread engageable with said male thread. In a preferred embodiment, the annular side wall of said closure lid includes an inwardly extending formation spaced from said female thread and engageable over said shoulder of the neck portion of said shoulder.

United States Patent 91 [111 3,885,696

Eberhardt May 27, 1975 [54] CLOSURE CONSTRUCTION FOR 3,606,062 9/1971Frisch 215/337 CONTAINER WITH LID 3,648,874 3/1972 Moller 215/337Inventor: Heinrich Eberhardt, Gasstrabe 9,

221 1tzehoe/Holst., Germany Filed: Oct. 29, 1973 Appl. No.: 410,337

Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 4, 1972 Germany 2254034References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1955 Sokolik 215/340 3/1964215/337 12/1969 215/7 3/1970 Moller 215/337 Primary Examiner-Herbert F.Ross Attorney, Agent, or FirmMcGlew and Tuttle [5 7 ABSTRACT A closureconstruction is provided for a container having a neck portion with atop rim, an annular shoulder spaced from said top rim, projectionsspaced outwardly from said neck portion defining male threads locatedbetween said top rim and said shoulder, and a closure lid for thecontainer has a closed top wall, an annular side wall with a pluralityof generally vertically extending, circumferentially spaced, inwardlyprojecting corrugations, said corrugations having an interior surfacedefining respective portions of a female thread engageable with saidmale thread. In a preferred embodiment, the annular side wall of saidclosure lid includes an inwardly extending formation spaced from saidfemale thread and engageable over said shoulder of the neck portion ofsaid shoulder.

2 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure CLOSURE CONSTRUCTION FOR CONTAINER WITH LIDBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The presentinvention relates to a cap-shaped lid made of relatively soft, thin, andnon-elastic material and which is is provided with a sealing insert,means for forming a vacuum-tight seal on the neck of a container, thisneck being provided with first projecting edges forming a thread, andbelow which a second closed annular projecting edge is often provided,the container being made of a firm material; the said lid having anannular arrangement of indentations formed on the inner lateralcylindrical wall of the lid, and having the shape of axially extendingcorrugations projecting towards the interior, and being formed in such away that this wall passes without deformation over the first projectingedges on the container neck, the corrugations extending over the firstprojecting edges forming a thread so that, when fastening the lid on thecontainer by means of a radially elastically yielding sealing head, thecorrugations are deformed by radial reduction of the diameter of thelids lateral wall at those points where the ridges of these corrugationsmeet with the ridges of the first projecting edges. Thus an interruptedinternal or female thread is formed on the inner lateral cylindricalwall of the lid.

2. Prior Art In a wellknown standard version of such a lid, known in theprior art under the trademark UNI-SEAL, the height of the lateral wallof the lid only slightly exceeds the area of the container neck that isprovided with the projecting edges forming a thread. Immediately belowthe end of the rib-shaped indentations the rim of said lateral wall isusually flanged outwardly.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION With respect to the extremely high quantitiesof containers to be sealed by such lids, there is a trend to increasethe operational speed of the capping machines. An object of the presentinvention is a further improvement of the lids of the above mentionedvariety, a further object of the invention is the increasing of theoperational speed of the capping machine by means of a particularlyreliable autocentering procedure undergone by these lids after they havebeen loosely placed on the openings or mouths of the containers at theoutset of the sealing procedure; another object of the invention is tofully maintain or even to increase the usefulness of the lids and theirpotential fields of application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Considering this and the foregoing objects ofthe invention according to the present invention the capshaped lid ofthe initially defined variety is characterized in that the cylindricallateral wall of the lid consists of two sections having cylindricalsurfaces joining one another and having equal outer diameters, the uppersection adjoining the closed top of the lid, being provided withindentations having the form of corrugations, the lower sectionadjoining the rim of the lid, being free of such indentations and beingprovided with inwardly 'directed flanges along the rim.

Preferably, the lower section of the inner cylindrical lateral wall ofthe lid has a height which amounts to at least one third of the heightof the upper section.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION A specificembodiment of the present invention is described hereafter by way of anexample and with reference to the attached drawing whose FIGURE is sideview of a lid according to the invention in place on a container andpartially cut away to better illustrate its structure.

The drawing thus illustrates an example of a capshaped closure lid 10 inaccordance with the present invention. In this embodiment the closurelid 10 consists, for example, of aluminum sheet material, and is alreadyfastened onto a container 20 usually having the shape of a cylindricalpreserving jar which is only being shown in part in the drawing. Thecontainer or jar comprises a cylindrical neck near its opening thatcarries first projecting edges that form a male thread and a secondprojecting edge or formation thereon that is closed and of annularshape. The container 20 usually widens below its neck portion 21,attaining a diameter that exceeds the outer diameter of the closure lid10.

In its upper section the closure lid 10 is provided with an annulararrangement of indentations or axial corrugations 12 projecting inwardlyhaving the shape of a female thread 12 projecting inwardly. The lid 10is shaped in such a way that its corrugations l2 initially pass withoutdeformation over the first projecting edges 22 of the neck portions 21of the container 20 at the outset of the capping procedure, thecorrugations 12 extending over the first projectng edges 22 and beingdeformed in the point-shaped zones 13 where,-

their ridges meet with the ridges of the first projecting edges 22, thusforming an interrupted internal or female thread inside the lid 10 whenthe latter is fastened on the container 20 by nearly concentricreduction of the diameter of the lateral wall 11 of the lid 10 by meansof a radially elastically yielding sealing head which is known in theart. Now, the cylindrical lateral wall 11 of the closure lid 10 consistsof two sections 1 1a and 11b, having cylindrical surfaces of equal outerdiameters and joined with one another the upper section 11a of the lidwall 11 adjoins the closed top wall 14 of the lid and contains thecorrugations 12, and the lower section 11b, adjoins the rim of the lid10, being free of such corrugations and being provided with an inwardlydirected formation or flange 15 at its rim. The lower section 11b of thewall of the closure lid 10 has a height that amounts to at least onethird of the height of the upper section 11a of the lid wall carryingthe corrugations 12 which form the female thread. The lid 10 contains anannular sealing insert 16 placed in its interior. This sealing insert 16rests on the rim of the neck 21 of the container and establishes theseal. The top wall 14 of the closure lid 10 is provided with a circularand concentric indentation 17 for engagement with the aforesaid sealinginsert 16.

By virtue of these new features as set forth herein the cap-shaped lidin accordance with the present invention provides the followingadvantages: a highly exact autocentering action of the lid in thesealing head can be achieved when placing the lid on the opening of thecontainer that is to be sealed, this being due to the surface of theextended apron of the lateral wall of the lid.

Thus both the lid and the container very rapidly obtain their correctposition with respect to the sealing head. Hence the operating speed ofthe capping device can be increased considerably.

The closure lid that is fastened onto the container 20 and is renderedparticularly rigid by the additional section llb with its cylindricalsurface and by the inwardly directed formation or flange l5, practicallywithstands horizontally directed pressure and impacts when beingtransported, so that, if desired, a container having a cylindrical body,as indicated in the drawing by the broken lines 25, can be employedinstead of the container 20 that widens below its neck 21. The ring 23for engagement with the closure lid formation can be omitted accordingto the application, or according to the contents of the container.

Because of the additional lower section llb forming a sort of apron, thesealing depth, i.e., the operational travel of the sealing head pressingthe lid onto the opening of the container or of the passage of the lowerrim of the lid over the container neck, need not be maintainedabsolutely exactly.

Protection against the introduction of pollutant foreign bodies into theinside of the lateral wall of the lid is achieved by means of the abovementioned apron formed by the lower section 11b of the lateral wall ofthe lid and by means of the inwardly directed flange 15. This protectionis important in the case of some substances to be preserved, such as forinstance baby food.

Furthermore, the embodiment according to the present invention providesa so-called high lid or cap, which is particularly appreciated by manyusers because of its especially esthetic dimensions.

If the inner diameter of the inwardly directed formation or flange 15situated at the lower extremity of the lateral wall 11 of the closurelid, has a value that approaches that of the outer diameter of the firstproject- 4 a ing edges 22 forming a male thread on the container,autocentering of the lid is achieved whenever the'latter is placed onthe neck and is screwed onto a container filled with a product to beconsumed in small quantities, which amounts to an essential relief fortheuser when handling such a container.

What we claim is:

1. A closure and container combination comprising a container having acylindrical neck with a top opening and a substantially flatrimsurrounding the top opening, a male thread projecting outwardly around Vthe side of said neck extending inwardly from said rim, an annularcylindrical ring formation on said neck spaced inwardly from said malethread, a container closure lid having a recessed central portionclosing the neck opening, a raised peripheral annularportion overlyingsaid rim and a cylindrical depending skirt portion extending inwardlyfrom said rim, an annular ceiling insert disposed between said lidraised peripheral annular portion and said rim, said lid cylindricalskirt portion having an upper section adjacent said rim with oncumferentially spaced vertically extending inwardly projectingcorrugations which are malleable and deformed to define a female threadwhen engaged on said male thread, said lid skirt having a lowersection'with the same diameter as the upper section but free of .cor-

formation and centering the. lid as it is threaded to said container. I2. An enclosure according to claim 1 wherein the inner diameter ofsaidflange is substantially equalto the outer diameter of said malethread.

1. A closure and container combination comprising a container having acylindrical neck with a top opening and a substantially flat rimsurrounding the top opening, a male thread projecting outwardly aroundthe side of said neck extending inwardly from said rim, an annularcylindrical ring formation on said neck spaced inwardly from said malethread, a container closure lid having a recessed central portionclosing the neck opening, a raised peripheral annular portion overlyingsaid rim and a cylindrical depending skirt portion extending inwardlyfrom said rim, an annular ceiling insert disposed between said lidraised peripheral annular portion and said rim, said lid cylindricalskirt portion having an upper section adjacent said rim withcircumferentially spaced vertically extending inwardly projectingcorrugations which are malleable and deformed to define a female threadwhen engaged on said male thread, said lid skirt having a lower sectionwith the same diameter as the upper section but free of corrugations andconnected to said upper section and being at least one third the lengthof said upper section, said lower section having a lower edge with aninwardly directed flange circumferentially engaging said ring formationand centering the lid as it is threaded to said container.
 2. Anenclosure according to claim 1 wherein the inner diameter of said flangeis substantially equal to the outer diameter of said male thread.